Doc Riggs' Ministry Minutehttps://docriggs.com
When there is only a minute for ministry!
Fri, 22 Feb 2019 15:16:42 +0000 en
hourly
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Survival Stronghttps://docriggs.com/2019/02/08/survival-strong/
https://docriggs.com/2019/02/08/survival-strong/#respondFri, 08 Feb 2019 02:42:49 +0000http://docriggs.com/?p=146695In today’s world, every minute has the potential to turn into a life or death decision for law enforcement officers. A decision made by a cop in a split-second of sheer terror, judges and law makers can ruminate over for months or years. They will take all that time to judge those actions made in the blink of an eye. Thankfully, police officers react in times of threat based on their training and experience. Sometimes, the bad guys win the moment; but, not the day. What you take away from this article may mean the difference between your own or your officer’s survival and not letting the evil, that sought to destroy, win.

Professional police prepare physically to enhance their strength and their endurance to handle the fights which come after the foot chase of someone ten years their junior. They build upper body strength and they diligently work to improve their competence with their firearms, both on and off-duty guns. They are aware of which holster works best in specific circumstances and they jealously watch over their tactical equipment keeping it all in place and ready. I never left the house for a shift without the pat-check by my wife. That’s the tap that comes during the ‘see you later – have a good night’ kiss assuring her that her cop had his protective vest on.

Over 30 years ago, police survival instructors developed the concept of survival role-play. It is a mental exercise where officers on patrol visualize a possible scenario in their jurisdiction of an armed encounter and how they would react. The training stressed the need for positive outcomes. Even in the mental role-play, if the officer visualized themselves as shot in the encounter, they always also visualized themselves as surviving the event.

Being mentally prepared for whatever is coming next is perhaps the most difficult area for being survival strong. How can you be prepared for something when you have no idea what it might be? The possibilities are almost endless. So, how does one figure out which ones are the most likely to be on your horizon? What if you can have no way of knowing what it might be? What do you do? There is only one sure way of being completely prepared for whatever might come your way and to be the one who will be ready to respond no matter what.

In firearms training, for accuracy and consistency it is critical to have a solid shooting foundation. If the shooter is in a standing position, there is a certain way that the feet should be planted, the knees, flexed, the shoulders and forearms aligned, the wrists kept straight. If not able to shoot from a standing position or it is necessary to move while shooting, there are still foundational methods which enable the shooter to keep aim on target and effectively send the shots down range.

When involved in a high-speed pursuit, there are very specific skills the driver must use to keep the car upright, on a solid path and box-in or overtake the offender to affect a safe apprehension. None of those skills can be completely effective, however, if the vehicle the officer is driving is not in good shape, with good tires, solid steering and dozens of other normally minute issues which become incredibly important when speeds scream past 100 miles per hour. If the foundation of the driver’s training and well-cared-for equipment is not solid, the risks spiral upward and the expectations for a safe end to the pursuit dwindle.

Award-winning author and columnist, Regina Brett wrote, “It doesn’t matter what has happened to you, it matters what you do with what has happened to you. Life is like a poker game. You don’t get to choose the cards you are dealt, but it’s entirely up to you how to play the hand.”[i] I’m going to ask her to indulge me when I add a qualification to her quotable-quote. Let’s consider the poker analogy. First, players, must ante up. They put in the chips agreed upon for beginning the pot. Then, once they see what they have been dealt, players can opt to fold or continue to play. A player who folds risks nothing further; but, they lose what they have put in so far. Even though there is nothing left for them to lose, they have no opportunity to gain anything more either.

Those who have not folded are known as active players. When all active players have contributed an equal amount to the pot, the betting round ends. According to the variant being played, further cards may be dealt, or players may have an opportunity to exchange some cards, after which there is another betting round, and so on. When the last betting round has ended there is a showdown. All active players show their cards, and the owner of the best five-card hand takes the contents of the pot. If at any point only one active player remains, that player automatically wins the pot without having to show any cards.

The objective is of course to win
money, and there are two ways to do this.

When you decide to sit in this poker game called life and you choose, as many reading this article have, to serve your community in a very hazardous, life-threatening role which few people understand and even fewer appreciate, your ante is in and you have already decided folding, at this point is not an option. You came to play and not to fold. The betting round has begun, and you are all-in, right from the beginning. Every chip you have, your time, your talent, your skills, your family time and yes, even your life is on the table and how you play your cards matters more than anyone can imagine.

Here is where part of the analogy of Ms. Brett’s needs to expand just a little. Technically, she is correct; you don’t get to choose the cards you’re dealt. But, as part of your deciding how to play the hand, you may opt to replace some of the cards you were dealt originally and get new ones. You do not know what they will be; but you do have the option to initially discard those which do nothing to help you, those you believe will hinder your success and keep what you believe are best. It could be staying stuck in bad past experiences – that’s a card to discard. Your tendency to have habits which are detrimental to your health – another set of cards to discard. Being forced to ‘play the hand you’re dealt’ is not completely true.

According to the rules of the game, the objective is to have the best hand at showdown or convince all the other players to fold. Remember what I wrote? You have all your chips in. Once all your chips are in it includes your family and your life. You have only two options when it’s time for showdown. You must either have the very best hand or force the others to fold. There can be no other options. Everything you do to prepare to play the game will set the foundation for the showdown. It may be the tactical training you have absorbed. It may be your attention to your situational awareness senses. However, it may also be a divine appointment.

There is one given about the poker game we call life. So far, in history, only two persons got out of this life without dying. One was Enoch (Genesis 5:24) and the other Elijah (2 Kings 2). One was simply nolonger, and the other God took up in a whirlwind. Very likely, both will be back in what is called the “End Times” and they will be killed and resurrected during that time. Even Jesus died before He rose again and then returned to heaven. Everyone who sits down at life’s poker game will have a divine appointment and then the showdown. The foundation upon which you have built your hand must have one specific card in it – the card of your acceptance of Christ as Savior and Lord. You have prepared to survive every dark evil that comes your way as a strong, gifted, committed, professional law enforcement officer. That foundation is strong. Why would you risk your eternity by not preparing to survive? That one card is foundational.

Then, learn this well. Every game you play in life, for every showdown – before your divine appointment, will only come together if you keep, in every hand, the card of your acceptance of Christ. It will change how you play each hand. You will no longer be looking for what it is to win; but you will know every win you receive is a gift from God. Everything you do will be focused on how that card impacts every other card in your hand. It is your choice to keep that card and not to fold; but, to play each hand with everything you have – all in.

Many years ago, there was a cartoon posted on our bulletin board at work. It showed a stork with a frog in its bill. Reaching out from the beak of the stork, the frog had his hands wrapped around the stork’s neck, trying to choke him. The caption read, Never Give Up! The strength of your faith will be the foundation upon which you survive. Regardless of the rest of the cards in your hand and no matter how the evil of this world throws every jagged barb at you, your foundation will remain strong as you exercise your faith, you nurture it and you sustain it. An interesting thing about faith, it is not something you acquire for yourself or for which you are responsible to obtain, it is a gift. God’s Word tells us that we are saved by grace through faith and that God is the One who gives us that faith. We can nourish it, but God grows it!

In today’s world, if you work your entire career in law enforcement or other similar public service, you may never hear one single of word of thanks or appreciation for what you do. I hope you do. In fact, if you are reading this right now, I am telling you that I, and every member of my family, appreciates you. I can also assure you of two things. First, God sees everything that you do in His Name. Second, He will reward you for it some day in the not too far distant future. Keep building your foundation, keep strengthening to be survival strong, keep training, keep practicing and preparing, and NEVER FOLD.

]]>https://docriggs.com/2019/02/08/survival-strong/feed/0docriggsWAR ZONEhttps://docriggs.com/2019/02/05/war-zone/
https://docriggs.com/2019/02/05/war-zone/#respondTue, 05 Feb 2019 17:54:02 +0000http://docriggs.com/?p=146687I
have written in past days about my first experiences in Bosnia Herzegovina not
very long after the cessation of open war. I use the term open war because the hatred and the racial and societal issues
still divide the country and corruption stops any real forward progress in defeating
the enemy.

It is difficult to describe a war zone. The buildings that once were homes, businesses, churches are just bombed out shells, with no life save the foraging insects and vermin that root among the remains looking for what else they can devour.

Iconic Sarajevo sign 1995

Where
people still reside, apartment buildings have shell holes that allow in the
winter wind and the outside is pock-marked, the results of shrapnel tearing apart
at the structure trying to weaken it.

There
is a stark analogy between the physical war zone I witnessed in Sarajevo and
remote areas of the countryside and the spiritual battles we face today. In
Bosnia, no place was left untouched. Specific places had horrific stories of hate-driven
carnage and we see the same in the battles Satan wages upon our world. I have felt
the darkness of Satan’s demonic power more in Bosnia than anywhere else I have
traveled but, it is only because there the mask of civilization was ripped away,
and Satan’s plans were open for anyone to see. In the rest of our world, often,
we keep the mask of civility and Satan’s attacks are, perhaps, not unseen, but unnoticed by an uncaring society too wrapped in their
own pain and secular drives to respond.

In the Bible we read, Satan is a roaring lion, prowling around seeing whom he may devour, just like the vermin crawling among the carnage of Bosnia’s war. Paul tells us our war is not against flesh and blood but “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph. 6:12)

God
has permitted Satan to have dominion over the world until the time He finishes
it and brings Satan to destruction and all who believe in Christ are His
forever in peace. God waits, not because He is cruel but because He is patient
and loving. Peter explains it, writing that God is “not slow about His promise,
as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to
perish but for all to come to repentance.”(2 Peter 3:9)

Until
then, as one writer put it, “Satan’s attack means that we all are vulnerable to
sickness, betrayal, financial meltdown, relational loss, emotional despair and
other hardships… bad things happen to good people… we live in a war zone.
There will be casualties.” (Rooted, Mariners Church 2011 p 85)

In
our spiritual battles, there will be homes empty, just shells remaining where
once there were families. There will be businesses and churches gone, only the
few, scattered remains from a bombing by sin and failure. Where people still reside,
there will be shell holes letting in the cold winter wind, chilling the soul
and hardening the heart; the explosive remains of damaged relationships, lost trust and horrific
sin. The lives of those struggling to survive are pock-marked by the shrapnel
of sin which has left its mark upon them.

There
is hope.

The
damage of war can be overcome and what was once uninhabitable shells of homes
and broken down lives can come to life again like spring after a hard winter.
The refreshing breeze of peace and love that comes only from Jesus Christ through
His victory over death and sin. When it
coms to spiritual battles, as the ‘Rooted’ book spells out, “And (the Lord)
wins. Every. Single. Time.” (p 85)

Someone once wrote how, in the darkest of places, a single candle burns brightest. I saw such a candle in Bosnia. It came in the form of a simple, unpretentious man who loved His Lord and loved every single person God sent his way in a very dark place. The flame of his candle lit many small candles which will burn for generations when the Spirit moves to set those candles within His lampstand.

John
writes, “We know that we are children of God and that the world is under the
control of the evil one.” That is disconcerting to say the least. But in context,
we find hope. The verse just before this one reads, “We know that no one who is
born of God sins; but He who was born of God (that’s Jesus)keeps him (that’s you if you truly believe)and the evil one (that’s
Satan) does not touch him. Jesus
told us we would have trouble in this world, but the Good News is that Jesus
has overcome the world! He said so! Jesus doesn’t lie. Satan’s attacks will be
all around us, but as believers, saved by grace through faith, even if we die
because of a sinful world’s sickness, we are safe, secure, in heaven forever
with Him.

We live in a war zone. Live under the banner of the victor. Take heed to what He teaches about daily survival and keep a long-view, looking toward the completion of all things under Christ.

]]>https://docriggs.com/2019/02/05/war-zone/feed/0docriggsTHE LAST BREATHhttps://docriggs.com/2019/01/22/the-last-breath/
https://docriggs.com/2019/01/22/the-last-breath/#respondTue, 22 Jan 2019 13:45:17 +0000http://docriggs.com/?p=146683It’s been said our great flag flies
not by the wind which rustles the leaves;

But, with the very last breath every
fallen soldier breathes.

When on nights, so cold the air freezes in your chest, the flag flies high and brings a tightness to your breast,

Then come the memories of those past wars, the wounds, the faces and the scars.

Each one is reflected in the colored
stripes and bold stars.

Every generation past and yet to
come, will certainly be asked

To share their best for freedom and faithfully
complete the task.

They’ll keep the flag flying with a
fresh and freeing breeze… not by death; but, by freedom from the highest
mountains to the seas!

]]>https://docriggs.com/2019/01/22/the-last-breath/feed/0docriggsLine of Dutyhttps://docriggs.com/2019/01/13/line-of-duty/
https://docriggs.com/2019/01/13/line-of-duty/#respondSun, 13 Jan 2019 04:05:20 +0000http://docriggs.com/?p=146674How wide is the Line? How straight the path? What is it within a person driving them to take an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, to uphold the laws of the city, county or state for which they serve? For so many, it is a dream of a lifetime to someday become part of the Thin Blue Line. Just last summer, Natalie Corona fulfilled a lifetime dream of receiving her commission as a police officer for the City of Davis in California and on January 10, 2019, Officer Corona was gunned down while responding to a traffic crash. She had told her father, before attending the police academy, “Dad, this is what I want to do.” Her father is a retired Colusa County Sheriff’s Deputy. No doubt her Dad is asking the same question many retired law enforcement officers ask themselves each time another officer is killed in the line of duty. Why them? Why not me?

No doubt,
most every retired police officer has faced a share of hard times, even wounds
and some debilitating injuries. This author is one of those who has shared in
instances where life was on the line and has scars and pain to remind me of the
good ol’ days. I survived. I lived
long enough to be able to complain about the pension fund and look with envy
upon the young officers who are now walking the Line, praying for them daily
because the threats are real, and the Line is narrow. I fulfilled my early life’s
dream to be a police officer like my oldest brother and I have seen, now, my son
pin on the badge. How the Line will fare for him, only the Lord knows and thankfully,
my son trusts in Christ’s capable hands.

Each year, as
the number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty increases,
there are thousands of officers who bend their knees in prayer to ask the Lord’s
grace upon the families and department for each one. The Lord knows when every
sparrow falls and, so much more, when servants of the public lay down their
lives. Christ spoke highly of those who lay down their lives for others.

Recently, I
wrote an article titled Survival Strong which
I hope will appear soon in the POFCI magazine. In that article, I wrote:

“I can also assure you of two things. First, God sees everything that you do in His Name. Second, He will reward you for it some day in the not too far distant future. Keep building your foundation, keep strengthening to be survival strong, keep training, keep practicing and preparing, and NEVER FOLD.”

Again, to the family of Natalie Corona and the Davis Police Department, I send our prayers and deepest sympathies. To Natalie’s father, I give the assurance of Scripture when Jesus says, “No greater love has any man than this that he lay down his life for a friend.” May she be remembered always for her zeal and dedication to law enforcement. Would it be Natalie’s would be the last line of duty death for 2019, though we know such is not to be.

May God bless each and every officer and keep them safe, trusting in the strength of Christ.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has an interesting,
if not warped view of information necessary for dissemination to law
enforcement and to communities when certain individuals are released from
custody. According to a recent article by the Investigative Project on Terrorism,
the Bureau has mandatory reporting requirements to law enforcement when
registered sex offenders are released. The same is true for drug offenders.
There are programs for both for re-entry into the mainstream and there are
channels of communication to alert law enforcement of their known whereabouts
when released. However, there is no similar programs in place for convicted
terrorists who are paroled or have completed their sentences. To quote Patrick
Dunleavy of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, “That is absurd.”[i]

“The Tracer Act, presently awaiting passage in the U.S. Senate, would require
authorities to provide state and local law enforcement with ‘release
information from a Federal correctional facility, including the name, charging
date, and expected place and date of release, of certain individuals who may
pose a terrorist threat.’”[ii]
The bill was introduced in the House in May of 2017 and then received in the
Senate in September of 2017. At that time, it was referred to the Committee on
Homeland Security and a year and three months later, it remains in committee.

Nearly thirty-two years ago, while working a special detail seeking out persons with outstanding warrants for violent crimes, I came across just such a person trying to hide behind a dumpster in a bar parking lot. He had multiple felony warrants for aggravated burglary, robbery, arson, escape and a host of others. A lengthy foot chase ended with the suspect in custody, the two of us at the bottom of a culvert and my right shoulder dislocated. Within a couple of years, I had my first reconstructive surgery on that shoulder. Just five days prior to writing the first draft of this article, I had a total shoulder replacement after years of dealing with chronic pain, arthritis and joint inflammation. When the felon was sentenced, he received 25 years in prison, of which he did the entire two-bits. I sometimes said to folks, (he) got 25 years, I got life. Today, my quip seems more real than ever. It did not take that felon very long after his release to be re-arrested and back in the system. Recidivism rates for violent, repeat offenders are disconcerting, to say the least. According to the study conducted by Jesse Morton and Mitchell Silber, “The recidivism rate among violent extremist offenders within the United States is unlikely to be zero. While the re-offender rate for violent extremist offenders appears to be much lower than among other federal prisoners,13 in 2010 the Director of National Intelligence assessed that 25 percent of former Guantanamo Bay detainees were confirmed or suspected of re-engaging in terrorist or insurgent activities.”[iii]

Twenty-five percent is probably a very low assessment. Most, if they have learned anything at all during their time at Guantanamo, learned how to keep a lower profile. Could it be that fifty percent or more of those who were detainees are still part of the terrorists’, jihadists’circles? Those who are not are more likely to be disengaged either by the simple fact that aging takes its toll on even the most resolute fighters and injuries incurred during their career have also left them unable to fight. For others, they may be out of touch because they are no longer trusted by those currently holding the reins of power. There may even be a few who are reformed. My expectation is that it is very few. To have a system which, if it tracks these violent offenders after release at all, does not permit the law enforcement in areas where they will reside to be notified of their location, is, as was quoted earlier, absurd. It borders on criminal negligence on the part of those who run the systems. The blood of any law enforcement officer or citizen who is subsequently killed by a released convict when no effort was made to inform police of his whereabouts or potential of his continued complicity to terrorism, should be legally upon the hands of those who had the power to change the system but did not.

I have a son-in-law who has, what you might call, an inquiring mind. He asked me just the other, ‘What is really wrong with having places like Alcatraz or as the British first planned to use Australia as a dumping ground for those too anti-social to work and play nicely with others?’ In the Philippines, al Qaeda and its brethren have ruled over Mindanao for decades. Okay, let them have it… take out those who have no dealings with the brothers of the sword, invite any who want to join them to go on in and then remove all forms of communication with the outside world to the island and let them fend for themselves. Such a comment is hyperbole, of course. I would never presume to instruct a sovereign government what to do with their lands; for the same reason I won’t live in a gated community. Without effective communication between prisons, probation, customs, INS, and local law enforcement, it becomes a matter of the stow-a-ways commanding the ship.

I have a good friend, a brother-in-Christ who is serving a fifteen-year sentence with the Ohio Department of Corrections. I know of murderers who did not get as severe a penalty as my friend and I believe he suffered greatly because of inadequate legal representation. However, with such issues aside, he knows why he is there and, as you would expect, he has lost everything which was important to him while he has been inside, with the exception of his faith. Tested mightily, yes; but his faith has endured. He has grown into a much stronger and wiser brother in the faith than most men I know. As with Joseph, (although my friend admits he was not innocent of all charges as Joseph was in the Genesis account), God is using him in amazing ways where he is.

A huge
difference for my friend is his faith and because of his faith, he was
‘reformed’ even before he was ever charged with a crime. Almost two decades passed
between the time of his crime and when he was charged. When he was arrested, he
was already no longer able to commit his crimes because of the redeeming power
of Jesus Christ. To say the ODC has any programs helping him to be prepared to
re-enter society is a stretch. My friend has grown greatly; but, it is because of
the Holy Spirit and through his own initiatives in seeking out educational
options and discipleship and mentoring programs.

In 1974, I wrote a college paper on recidivism rates. I would
like to report on the great advances made in corrections to reduce recidivism
in the intervening forty-four years. Such is not the case. Lots of money has
been thrown at all kinds of programs; but, the nature of the beast is beyond any
quick fix. Without the life-changing, eternity altering, soul reclaiming power
of Christ, none of our man-made efforts can make a significant difference. The Constitution
of the U.S. has a clause known as ‘The full faith and credit clause.’ The
actions of one state will be backed by the others and by the federal government
(with specific exceptions). Without such a clause, the ability of the states to
work as a united republic would be impossible. As an analogy, each act of
kindness must also be backed by the full faith and love of Jesus Christ to have
any eternal efficacy.

To merely bemoan the brokenness of the system and offer no good recourse or some viable alternatives is to promote cynicism and defeatism. There are already enough isms wreaking havoc upon our society, I shan’t be involved in promoting any others. A quote from the immutable Dr. House is simply, ‘you must either be good, get good or give up’ and nobody can afford to give up. If our dealing with recidivism and radicalization are not good and our attempts at restoration have not been good, then we need, as a society to get good. I suggest the following:

Improve our grammar. A sentence is a sentence. Ten years for armed robbery is ten years not 3 years with credit for time served. The sentences, however, must fit the crime and the individual charged. Too harsh or too lenient, both are wrong.

Repair our doorways. To deal with recidivism, prison doors do not swing open and they do not revolve. They lock. Repeat offenders need to know their future is certain.

Become better gardeners. Remember our roots. America is built on Judeo-Christian principles. It will be the only faith available for study in prison. A free American has the right to freedom of worship. If you are in prison you are not a free American. There will be no radicalizing imams strolling the halls of our penitentiaries unless they are prisoners themselves and still, they will not have the opportunity to preach and teach.

We will sing-along with Aretha Franklin R-E-S-P-E-C-T will be afforded to parents by children, students to teachers, citizens to police officers and, young people to elders. This will be taught in the homes and in the schools with local churches available to help-out any time.

We will encourage reading. The only OPEN Borders will be bookstores. If you choose to immigrate LEGALLY into the U.S., you will learn English as our national language. The phones will be freed from the option to ‘Press 1 for English’. Tourists out west, if they see a sign for WALL DRUG – it will be for the great tourist trap in South Dakota and not some marijuana they got between the U.S. and Mexico.

We will encourage a STRONG economy. You desire health benefits and a paycheck, you will work. The definition of those who truly are not able to physically work will be determined by those who pay for the social services, the tax-payers.

Pharmacies will be available 24 hours a day. They will be the only places where anyone can get drugs. Anyone who wants to dispense drugs can go to pharmacology school. Failing to get a Pharm degree but still selling drugs will invoke number 1 and number 2 and if the person is an alien, number 5 will come into play and the person will be invited to return to the land of their birth, do not pass go, do not collect $200.00.

Perhaps these Stringent
Seven are a bit tongue in cheek or, at least, too simplistic to merit any true
consideration. Still, they are the basis for what needs to be accomplished
within our system to begin to regain some control over the miscreants threatening
our society.

]]>https://docriggs.com/2018/12/21/recidivism-radicalization-restoration/feed/0docriggsFROM INFAMY to AMENhttps://docriggs.com/2018/12/07/from-infamy-to-amen/
https://docriggs.com/2018/12/07/from-infamy-to-amen/#respondFri, 07 Dec 2018 17:40:56 +0000http://docriggs.com/?p=146636INFAMY – it’s defined as the state of being well known for some bad quality or deed. President Roosevelt personified the word and by allegory, made it a place. He is famously remembered for declaring that December 7th is a day “which shall live in infamy”. He was, of course, referring to the unprecedented attack on America by Japanese forces over Hawaii ushering the U.S. into WWII.

Today, America honors in burial President George H.W. Bush, one of the youngest fighter pilots ever who flew multiple missions in WWII.

In a few days, a friend will celebrate his 94th birthday. He, too, fought in WWII in the Pacific Theater. Those of the Greatest Generation are fast leaving our world.

Today, I was asked in a letter by the Friends of the National WWII Memorial to contribute funds to add the D-Day Prayer to the memorial. It was given in a radio address by President Roosevelt.

It goes like this:

“My fellow Americans, last night when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far. And so, in this poignant hour I ask you to join with me in prayer.

” Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph. They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war. For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home. Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom. And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas — whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them — help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice. Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long, and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts. Give us strength, too — strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces. And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be. And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose. With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.”

Can anyone imagine such a heartfelt prayer ever coming from the White House in our life time?

A few days ago, I attended a ‘Grandparents’ Day’ at a local elementary school. Everyone of us were required to present our driver’s license and surrender the license to the school to hold until we left. We were not permitted to go beyond the room into which we were ushered. It is how it is in 2018.

I have been working with my son to develop an ‘active-shooter’ prevention and interdiction scenario which can be used at churches and other houses of worship, faith-based schools and other parts of religious campuses. It is the world in which we live.

A news article for the City of Chicago said, after agreeing to add a Menorah to their city’s nativity scene, they accepted a petition by a satanic ‘church’ to add their piece to the Nativity, a sculpted female forearm with a hand holding an apple, the arm wrapped by a snake titled, “Knowledge is the Greatest Gift”

Infamy – a historic place, according to President Roosevelt, where bad deeds are remembered.

After many months, those who survived the D-Day landing pressed on to Berlin and that war was brought to an end.

My father’s ship, the PC-1261 had the dubious distinction of being the very first ship sunk at D-Day just off Juno Beach at about 0535 hours, 6 June 1944. When he crawled to the exterior hull of the sinking ship and jumped into the freezing English Channel, the fighting part of the war, for him, was done.

Within two-hours, after the first Japanese planes were spotted over Oahu at 7:55am, Dec. 7, 1941; both the first and second waves of Japanese fighters and bombers were gone. By 8:00am after the first air-strike, most of the U.S. aircraft were decimated. Five minutes to two hours; D-Day for my father, a long night for a channel crossing and within minutes, his ship was resting on the channel floor, half of the crew, Dad’s friends, lay with it. The epic story of the nuclear attack on Japan, “Thirty Seconds over Tokyo” tells how quickly the super power was brought to capitulation.

In an FBI Study on recent active shooter incidents, of those that could be timed, they began and ended within five minutes, the vast majority before police arrived.

Our world, some would say, has become a place of infamy. The spiritual war between good and evil goes on; however, God has already won. Jesus Christ sits on the throne, having defeated Satan and having defeated death. He waits now, only for the fullness of time, when the last human being who is to be saved will be saved prior to His coming and it is God who superintends that. He has set the time for when all things will be brought under submission to King Jesus.

What we must remember this December 7th is something that President Franklin Roosevelt said in his nationally broadcast prayer, “I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts… And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose. With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy… Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.”

AMEN.

]]>https://docriggs.com/2018/12/07/from-infamy-to-amen/feed/0docriggsPearl HarborRoosevelt on radiopc 1261Enola GayChrist returnsMoving Toward Safetyhttps://docriggs.com/2018/11/06/moving-toward-safety/
https://docriggs.com/2018/11/06/moving-toward-safety/#respondTue, 06 Nov 2018 01:58:31 +0000http://docriggs.com/?p=146634MOVING TOWARD SAFETY
Dr. Ross L. Riggs
The bell in the elementary school hall way begins to clang. Students prepare to file out, in a quiet and orderly fashion. In its earliest days, my school’s fire alarm was a large metal bell attached to the wall with a mechanical hammer that would strike the flying saucer shaped bell repeatedly.
At the fire alarm, we would put away books and our pencils, get in line at the front of the classroom and in an orderly fashion we would walk out of the school to a pre-arranged place where the teachers would take a roll-call.
On other days, an announcement would come over the public address system in the school and the principal would announce a CIVIL DEFENSE DRILL. At about that same time, the wail of a high pitched siren would be heard coming from downtown. It was like the siren that summoned the volunteer firefighters to a call; but, this one did not cycle high to low pitches. It went to a single high pitch and stayed there. We would again, put away our books and pencils, though I’m not sure in a real emergency, any of us would have cared about our Eberhard Fabers! Then, again, in a quiet and orderly way, we would get down on the floor and crawl under our desk to await either the dropping of a nuclear bomb on us or the announcement by the principal that we could resume our seats.
Then there were the tornado drills. Again, an announcement followed by the same siren we would hear if the U.S.S. R. was bombing us, and, again, putting away our pencils and books, we walked in an orderly fashion to the hallway where we sat on the floor along the lockers, brought our knees up and then put our head to our knees and our hands over our head to await the arrival of Dorothy and her little dog too!
It all seems ludicrous in today’s world, doesn’t it? Someday, someone may look back on how we failed to protect ourselves from a real threat, the probability of a gunman seeking to kill as many in our school, our church or our workplace or coffee shop as possible. We might as well put up our pencils and books, walk in an orderly fashion and wait to be gunned down. Perhaps that is a bit hyperbolic; but, not much in most places.
One of the key things we have learned in active shooter situations is to keep moving! Run, do not walk, past GO, don’t worry about your $200 or your Eberhard Fabers. Just run. It is hard enough for a skilled shooter not under stress to hit a moving target. A non-skilled shooter hyped up on whatever it is that one might get hyped up on to do such a thing probably couldn’t hit a moving target without a huge amount of shear luck.
There is another aspect of moving though which is integral to developing as safe a work environment as possible for you and your co-workers or co-worshippers. The active shooter incident just a few days before this article was written, occurred in a synagogue in Pittsburgh raises some questions which authorities will try to answer in the days ahead. For example, how did a person carrying a M-16 rifle and three handguns get past the front foyer of a synagogue? This is my primary question at this point. When it comes to moving, though, it is a common instinct to freeze in the face of fear. If we can overcome the fright-freeze response and move, our survival rate will climb exponentially.
What about moving your place of work, worship or relaxation to a place of greater safety? I will never say to a place of safety, because there is no such place this side of heaven. However, we can have places of greater safety; greater because people care about each other, people stay aware of their situational surroundings and people come to the aid of persons in trouble. In today’s world there are many risks we encounter from the minute we choose to get out of bed. For this brief article I will mention just one and only in a short expose. Let’s review the term, active shooter.Active shooter,a term used to define the perpetrator of a type of mass murder marked by rapidity, scale, randomness and often suicide. Some shooters, familiar with any school’s fire escape plan, could easily set up drill because, for most, it hasn’t changed since I was the one standing on the playground waiting to be counted. Pre-arranged meeting places, orderly movement, and lack of flexibility all play into the hands of the shooter. Schools and other officials have been working with police to try to determine a better recourse. Various options from fortifying a room in the school or office and have everyone try to get to the secure area and lock themselves in to wait for authorities to end the siege was one of the first responses developed for active shooters.
The rapidity of the event played against this option. Newer options and concepts like Run, Hide, Fight are becoming standard for many places of business and light industry. How to best handle large groups of children is another matter. Understanding the best ways to work with large groups gathered for worship is another challenge for security personnel, leadership and staff members. In this article you will be introduced to the concept developed by Security Consulting Investigations, LLC (SCI) to bring the discussion more to the front end of the event than the response end.
Preparing for an assault and finding ways to discourage a perpetrator from attempting to use your house of worship, corporate office building or any facility that has a public entrance may be one of the best options any work place has to help keep its employees moving toward safety. The same is true for non-public workplaces or private work areas where disaffected employees may seek to exact vengeance against others. SCI has created the C.A.R.E. Program which will fit any group in any work environment. Understanding how the acronym can work for you, in your house of worship or place of business will also help you decide where to turn next, before yours is the next place on the evening news, God forbid. CRISIS ASSESSMENT RISK EVALUATION – C.A.R.E.
SCI has developed a strategy and a template for the implementation of an in-depth review of your organization to learn:
• How are you currently prepared or not prepared for a crisis?
• What are the key changes that need to be made to move your organization to a higher level of safety?
• Who are the key people that need to be trained in new procedures, policies and plans to move your group ahead?
• What types of risks are most likely to be faced by your organization?
• Understanding the risks, prioritize the most probable, develop a response(s). (This will include obtaining equipment and perhaps personnel to help mitigate the effects of an event.)
• Train individuals within the organization for their own response needs and their role in case of an emergency.
• Train others in the evaluation process and help create a culture of re-evaluating, updating, and retraining.
This is not an exhaustive list; but, it does provide you with the food for thought you need to begin to move your people, your organization to a place of greater safety.

AUTHOR’s NOTE:
SCI provides qualified personnel to help you complete your first C.A.R.E. Program and help you to continue the work in the years ahead. Contact SCI at 1-888-719-5636 or at inquiry@security-consulting.us.

]]>https://docriggs.com/2018/11/06/moving-toward-safety/feed/0docriggsWhen Jesus Beckonshttps://docriggs.com/2018/09/03/when-jesus-beckons/
https://docriggs.com/2018/09/03/when-jesus-beckons/#respondMon, 03 Sep 2018 06:03:41 +0000http://docriggs.com/?p=146626Two weeks ago, I became instant friends with a man I had just met. We were having a business lunch and as we sat and talked, we found a common bond between us. I believe it was, certainly, our faith in Christ. We were brothers after all and I’m certain the indwelling Holy Spirit who guides us daily could have been what drew us together. We talked again a few times in the following days, mostly about business because we had some duties to perform. By the end of the next week, I had been with my new friend as he suffered the death of his wife of about 28 years. The day before her being rushed to the hospital, she had been fine. No major emergencies, no life-threatening diagnosis. She was fine. She wasn’t sleeping well but, with the issues on her mind, sleep was just not part of the equation.

Fine one moment. Gone the next. That truly does sum up how we exit this physical realm to enter the celestial-spiritual one where we see our Savior, face to face.

Just five days before my friend’s loss of his wife, my own wife and I were on a motorcycle run for a local charity. There were probably one-hundred bikes in the entourage that began winding its way through the rolling countryside of southeastern Ohio . Two couples that were directly behind us on two bikes would not finish this particular run. After our group pulled off for gas, the couples behind us drove on. Within fifteen minutes, we came upon the crash site. A woman driving a pick-up truck rounded a downhill curve too fast and her right tire went off the roadway. She over-corrected and drove her truck at about forty or so miles per hour directly into the first couple. The impact literally launched both into eternity. The second couple was also hit and survived; but, not without some serious physical trauma.

I learned, later, the deceased couple were in their hometown at the crash and were members of a local Bible-believing church. From accounts of friends, it’s easy to see the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives and we trust they are safe in our Father’s arms. Less than an hour before, they had climbed on their bike expecting a good ride, leaving from the company where the husband had been employed and well-liked for 17 years, to arrive, within an instant of being hit, to stand before the throne of grace and mercy and see their Savior, face to face. I cannot help but wonder what the last words they spoke to one another before the crash had been. What was the last thing said between them and their family members on that morning or the day before?

Did any of these three who, within a few days of each other, died so unexpectedly leave anything undone? Were there harsh words between them and someone in their family? Was there something that needed to be said still unspoken? Did someone else’s anger against them, for any of a thousand possibilities, leave the issue unresolved? Would the bearer of that anger, which the Bible teaches is not something we should hold onto for more than a day, be left without any chance of ever saying, “I’m sorry” or “I forgive you”? The heaviness of carrying that for the rest of their life would be overwhelming.

If these three people’s immediate and unexpected departure from this life teaches us anything, and I believe it teaches us many, there certainly is one primary lesson. Leave nothing unsaid, no loving action and no words of comfort, no acts of forgiveness undone. Do not leave your relationship with God the Father unsettled. We know not when Jesus beckons.

]]>https://docriggs.com/2018/09/03/when-jesus-beckons/feed/0docriggsambulanceJesus beckonsVJ Day – Does Anyone Know What That Means Anymore?https://docriggs.com/2018/09/01/vj-day-does-anyone-know-what-that-means-anymore/
https://docriggs.com/2018/09/01/vj-day-does-anyone-know-what-that-means-anymore/#respondSat, 01 Sep 2018 06:35:53 +0000http://docriggs.com/?p=146619I am writing this in the early morning hours of September 1, 2018. Seventy-three years ago, on this date in September I imagine that the preparations both on and off the U.S.S. Missouri had to be mind-numbing. The number of U.S. and Allied Forces dignitaries arriving on-board, not to mention the Japanese Imperial Chief of Staff, General Yoshijiro Umezu was to be escorted on-board with his entourage for the signing of Japan’s official surrender, bringing World War II to an end.

In August, just a few weeks before, two atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. About 125,000 people were killed. Also, repeated fire bombing raids over Tokyo had killed as many. Author Karl Compton argued, not long after the surrender, that the bombing raids were vital to ending the war. Japanese soldiers confirmed that they did not feel beaten and would have fought on in their home towns until, according to them ‘every Japanese were killed’ at least then, they would not have been ‘defeated’ as the disgrace of surrender meant to them.

Compton wrote, “ From this background I believe, with complete conviction, that the use of the atomic bomb saved hundreds of thousands—perhaps several millions—of lives, both American and Japanese; that without its use the war would have continued for many months; that no one of good conscience knowing, as Secretary Stimson and the Chiefs of Staff did, what was probably ahead and what the atomic bomb might accomplish could have made any different decision. Let some of the facts speak for themselves.”

Hindsight is 20/20 they say, unless I suppose one defines hindsight as someone who is forced to see life through a misappropriated placement of one’s cranium. However, plans were in the making for a massive landing and ground-assault on the Japanese mainland beginning in October of 1945. A tremendous number of supplies, weapons, personnel and aircraft were to be on Okinawa in preparation for the landings. Because of the surrender, those plans were pushed back and when a major typhoon would strike Okinawa in October, the loss to our fleet was estimated to be far in excess of our losses at Pearl Harbor. Some predict the war may have gone on for up to ten more years.

As it happened, Harry S. Truman gave the word and on September 2, 2018 Japan surrendered unconditionally, bringing a world at war lurching back toward peace. Perhaps we should take time to remind our children and our children’s children about the meaning of September 2nd, VJ Day. Remind them that of the 300,000 American prisoners held by the Japanese, a third of them died. Maybe, just maybe, we should try to learn something from history that great sacrifices must be honored today and every day.

Notes by Karl Compton and photo of Hiroshima from The Atlantic Dec. 1945 https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1946/12/if-the-atomic-bomb-had-not-been-used/376238/

Intelligence reports generated by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, United States Military Academy, by Don Rassler, indicate that in 2017 the Islamic State promulgated new innovations in propelling incendiary and explosive devices. Improvised explosive devices were no longer being disguised in doll babies and nondescript packages. An English proverb says the necessity is the mother of invention. The Islamic State faced necessities that brought them to the point of innovation if not invention.

According to the report, in October 2016, the Islamic State used a bomb-laden drone to kill two Kurdish peshmerga soldiers who found the device and were investigating it. In January 2017, the Islamic State released a propaganda video that “Showed nearly a dozen examples of the group releasing munitions on its enemies from the air with a fair degree of accuracy via quadcopter drones it had modified.” Soon after, the IS had drones that would drop bombs and kill enemy combatants.

What is important for all in the intelligence field is how simply the Islamic State was able to obtain the drones they needed without raising any suspicion as to their planned use. By creating a device that used basic, commercial (off the shelf) devices, (the drones) they were able to acquire the commercial quad-copter drones and other electronic parts needed by buying globally with a layered suiipply chain that, according to Dan Rassler, included “16 different companies that were based in at least seven different countries.”

Principally, companies that became sources for the quad-copters were in Bangladesh, the United Kingdom and Spain. Some of these companies provided the drones, others were established to move funds and purchase other dual-use components on behalf of the Islamic State. The Bangladesh local affiliate, created by two Bangladeshi brothers who orchestrated the program was named Dawlatul Islam Bengal.

Commercial, off the shelf components of a technical nature combined with low tech components and other add-ons, created a new methodology for killing enemy forces. Ingenuity and necessity are not the sole property , however of the Islamic State.

Sir Winston Churchill, during WWII was responsible for a number of off-beat ideas for trying to end the war successfullly. Perhaps one of the most bizarre is the following story.

After the fall of France, Winston Churchill vowed to “set Europe ablaze.” To that end, British secret agents were equipped with an assortment of disguised explosive devices that would have made even James Bond jealous — bombs that were made to look like soap, shoes, bottles of chianti, bicycle pumps, suitcases — and even rats.[i]

Rassler, in his report to the Combating Terrorism Center has a list of six points to consider under Future Threats & Other Implications. Within those six are three specific items for which all those in intelligence should be aware. Those are paraphrased here:

Improvisation using inexpensive items readily available combined with advanced technology may bring threats to the fore ahead of our intelligence capabilities to prepare for them.

Hybrid warfare strategies may continue to come from the Islamic State as well as other terrorist groups that take their cue from IS.

Future expectations include:

“Drones similar to the Islamic State’s bomb-drop capable ones to be used in different theaters and by different types of groups.

The use of different drone tactic, drone targets, and drone weapons.

More drones to be used: not just one drone, but multiple, and land and sea drones, too.”

Acceleration of our drone countermeasures must be a priority.

Future hybrid threats created using low-cost equipment with more costly forms of technology require an ability to manage, track and degrade the access to these types of items before they can be made into weapons systems. ”Important supply chain gaps of knowledge likely still exist.”

Attention and effort toward preventing “the delivery of select dual use items to major conflict zone areas, to investigate and map out supply chain networks, and to retrace specific equipment after it has been found in the field.”

I’ll close this report with a quote Don Rassler used in his introduction. “There was a day (in early 2017) when the Iraqi effort nearly came to a screeching halt, where literally over 24 hours there were 70 drones in the air…At one point there were 12 ‘killer bees’ if you will, right overhead and underneath our air superiority…and our only available response (at the time) was small arms fire.” -General Raymond A. Thomas III, May 2017[ii]